Sign in
Courtesy navigation
Search
Blog posts tagged Conservative
Our favourite things - An election special II
April 28, 2010
The low-down on the blogs, tweets, books, podcasts, videos, websites and events that are keeping us inspired, entertained and informed during the election.
Reading
|
|
|
Browsing
|
|
|
Watching
|
|
|
Listening
|
|
|
Doing
|
|
|
Enjoying
|
|
|
Sponsor offer
|
|
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
What inspires, educates or informs you? Send your recommendations to us: editor@marketingdonut.co.uk
A load of old junk?
April 27, 2010
The front pages, the billboards, the TV debates… as the election race heats up, it’s become almost impossible to avoid thinking about where your vote might go on 6 May. As in all the best marketing campaigns, each political party is employing different tactics over a broad range of media to get their message to the electorate. Can we learn anything from the way the politicians and the party marketing machines are doing things?
The major voter engagement tactic being used by one of the parties in my area is direct mail. Unfortunately for them, it's not really engaging this voter. Every evening I come home and sort through the post piled up on the table in the entrance hall. Every evening I feel a glimmer of excitement at discovering several envelopes addressed to me.
With the post under one arm and fumbling with my keys, I manage to get the door of the flat unlocked, race into the kitchen, tear open the envelopes, and… it’s yet another letter from this particular candidate. And it's probably about potholes or ‘unacceptable’ engineering work on the Northern Line. Some evenings I'm even lucky enough to have a ‘personal’ letter from the head of the party. What’s personal about a mass mailing that happens to bear my name?
The mysterious thing is that none of the other parties locally appear to be using direct mail – or if they have, their leaflets and letters have been swallowed by the vast amount sent by their opponent. One of the parties has encouraged local businesses to put up posters, while the other main party is barely to be seen. Apparently the seat is a critical one, which could explain the sheer quantity of letters I've received, but it would be interesting to see all three major parties using a wider range of methods to get voters' attention.
Why? Because the direct mail campaign just isn’t working. There’s too much of it, for a start, so any pertinent message is crowded out by so many other ‘important’ things I need to know. And it’s badly designed, badly written and just…annoying. The sheer volume of wasted paper also makes me wonder whether this party has any kind of environmental policy – something that could, actually, influence my vote.
The biggest shame, though, is that when used effectively, direct mail is a powerful marketing tool. I was recently handed an excellent flyer for a new café that has opened nearby. It was eye-catching, well designed and briefly identified what it offers that none of the other local cafes do, such as a quiz night and acoustic music at the weekends. The people handing out the flyers were friendly and were only planning to be campaigning like this for two days – they were there simply to raise awareness about the recently-opened café, not to remind passers-by about it every day for the next six weeks. Compared to the political leaflets, which are repetitive, lengthy and visually unappealing, the café flyer wins hands-down.
When I get home this evening, no doubt one of the first things I'll do is put some more of the leaflets in the recycling. Once a week would have been interesting and informative. Letters once, or even twice, a day is getting tiresome.
Who's got the best election slogan?
April 12, 2010
Each of the three major political parties has now unveiled the election slogan that will underpin its campaign. This is a vital piece of their election toolkit – it’s the platform on which the rest of their messaging will be built. In marketing terms, it’s their USP. But do they work? And what makes a good election slogan anyway?
I’ve done some thinking of my own and I asked your opinions, too, via the Marketing Donut Twitter account.
Labour: A future fair for all
The Labour Party slogan recalls its great founding principle, equality - presumably because they feel it’s the key distinction arch rivals, the Conservatives. The phrase itself has a poetic, but archaic quality. Rather than looking forward to a progressive future, it seems almost a requiem for an ideal that has never been achieved.
This is what you thought:
@the_shopkeeper Surely this should be “A fair future for all”? Rolls easier off the tongue, in my humble opinion.
@Web_D Sounds like there's going to be a rollercoaster and dodgems.
@JanMinihane Sounds like Labour are planning a fair, how wonderful.
Conservative: Vote for change
The Conservative Party slogan has the virtues of directness, simplicity and it’s memorable – all key elements of a good slogan. On the other hand, it doesn’t tell you what they want to change or who will benefit from the change. Is it us? Or is it them? They seem to rely on a public appetite for something – anything – different.
You said:
@benparkatbjs Does anyone know the Tory election slogan? “Spare any change?” isn't it? Something like that.
@runninginheels7 Conservative could mean change in any sense or subject?
@dpoyser Would have to be the Conservatives; most descriptive with the least number of syllables and it makes the best soundbite.
@JanMinihane Conservative Slogan: "Time for change" - what, 20p, 50p, 5p?? Bit too snappy and short for my liking.
Liberal Democrat: Change that works for you, building a fairer Britain
Of all the slogans, the Liberal Democrat one feels most designed by committee. It’s a mouthful, two slogans tacked together - two slogans we’ve already seen, in fact. The Lib Dems truly are finding a middle way with this one; they have the promise of change (Conservative) AND the promise of equality (Labour) all in one rather unwieldy mouthful.
It is, however, the only slogan that actually speaks directly to you, the reader. This alone was enough to help it find favour with our Twitter following:
@mathewhulbert In simplistic terms you might think the Tories is the best, but the Lib Dems speaks to two different groups.
@Web_D I like this actually. It’s the “for you” that wins me over.
@JanMinihane My fave, seems more personal somehow.
And the winner is...
@twistandshoutuk That Lib Dem one seems a bit weird and wordy. The Labour one sounds like part of a poem. Conservatives is brief and snappy.
In a sense, each of the slogans does exactly what we might expect of each of the parties: the Labour slogan treats us a collective; the Conservative slogan commands us; the Liberal Democrat slogan tries very hard to appeal to everyone – but at least they are personable about it.
When I asked how you would rewrite the slogans, I should have known I was inviting trouble:
@benjamindyer How about “Write me a letter if you like, but I am too busy knocking back Martinis and attending garden parties to care.”
@Web_D I’d vote for any party that admitted the truth: “We're in the s**t... It will be tough, but we'll get through it in time.”
Despite this cynicism, I’ve had a go at adjusting the slogans to address the criticisms and this is what I came up with:
Labour: A fairer future for you
Conservative: Changing Britain for the better
Liberal Democrat: Your only REAL alternative
I reckon they might just work. What do you think?
Small business marketing - free advice, tools and resources | Marketing Donut
Copyright © 2009-2012
